


I Promise

by orphan_account



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 21:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1873194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss wants to teach her daughter how to shoot a bow. Peeta doesn't want her learning. So they have an argument.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Promise

     "I don't want her to."

     I fold my arms and glare at Peeta. "Why not?"

     He runs his hands through his blond hair in frustration. "We've been over this a thousand times already."

     And indeed we had. We've been fighting off and on for the past two days over our daughter, Willow. She recently turned five; the same age my father started teaching me how to use a bow and arrow. I wanted to teach her, too, just in case. Needless to say, Peeta didn't agree.

     "I think she should learn. It won't hurt her to learn!"

     "I don't want her learning how to shoot that thing," he argued stubbornly.

     I bristle, feeling insulted. " _That thing_ kept my family alive for years." I grind my teeth. "It'll be good for her to learn how to hunt, at least."

     He braces the counter that separates us, his normally bright blue eyes sparking with anger. "I don't want her killing things. She's a little girl, Katniss! She doesn't need to have her hands bloodied with animal guts. Let her stay innocent, for crying out loud."

     "She will still be innocent! She needs to learn how to defend herself if something were to happen."

     Peeta's eyes soften a bit, and his face relaxes. "Katniss," he says gently, "you know nothing will happen."

     I hate when he goes all soft and sweet on me during an argument. He knows it makes me want to cry. It's an unfair advantage.

     I swallow the lump in my throat. "You don't know that, Peeta," my voice cracks, "You don't know that the Capitol won't rise up. You don't know that someone who hates us will try to take everything we have." Tears start to form in my eyes, and I blink them away angrily.

     "Katniss." He comes around the counter and pulls me into his arms. I gladly fall into his arms, the argument draining all resistance from me. I can't stand fights with Peeta. After all he's been through, he doesn't need me making things even harder for him.

     "Kat, you know nothing will happen." I begin to interrupt, but he stops me. "No, you listen. _Nothing_ will happen. Even if things got bad again, we'd protect her. You know we would. You would stop at nothing to make sure she's safe. And the same for me. I promise she doesn't need to learn to shoot."

     "She does, though!" I don't know why I keep pursuing the discussion. We normally stop at this point and pretend as if nothing happened. But I can't today. We need to come to an agreement. Willow's starting to pick up on our tension. "She needs to know. If not to protect herself . . . then to hunt." He tries to say something, but I continue. "But not yet. She's too young, and we don't need hunt. Not really. But, right now, she can shoot targets."

     He seems hesitant, but not utterly opposed to the idea. "I don't know. What if she shoots herself? Or hits herself with the bow? What if she gets hurt?"

     I worry about this too, though I don't dare say so aloud. "We'll keep a careful eye on her. You can come with us. I'll make her a smaller bow. One that will be comfortable for her. And her arrows won't be too sharp. Just sharp enough to stick in a tree trunk. She's going to get hurt, Peeta. All children do. But we have to accept it and let her grow. It's bound to happen."

     Peeta thinks about it for a moment and then smiles. He pulls me into a hug and laughs.

     "What?" I ask, his laughter becoming contagious.

     He shrugs. "You always said you wouldn't be a good parent. You were wrong."

     I start smiling too. "So, are we agreeing to let her shoot targets?"

     "I think we are."

     "Finally! We'll start tomorrow."

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     We go out to the woods the next day. Willow is excited about her first lesson. Peeta's a nervous wreck. I'm trying to keep it together for the both of them.

     "Peeta, calm down. Everything will be fine."

     He takes a deep breath and nods. "Right. I know. I'm just worried." But he puts on a smile for Willow and gives her a thumbs up. "Don't shoot your eye out, pumpkin."

     She grins and bounced up and down on her toes. "I won't, Daddy." And then she takes the smaller bow from me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! You can find me on tumblr as rnellark-everdeen.


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